THE ground beneath Agung Budi Darmoyo’s feet suddenly began to shake. “Hey, who’s running heavy equipment?” the head of geology at Lapindo Brantas Incorporated asked his subordinates. No one answered. They were all confused.

Agung suddenly felt nervous. “The state of the well was critical,” said the 41-year-old when describing his experience two years ago to Tempo. That morning, on May 27, 2006, the Kujung formation that holds gas ha